Artificial bait



y 29, 1952 N. s. CRUMB 2,604,718

ARTIFICIAL BAIT Filed Aug. 13, 1947 l atented July 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT Omen Nears. Crumb, Rockford, in. Application August13, 1947, Serial No.768,445

- 4 Claims.

' This invention relates to a new and improved The principal object of my invention is to provide an artificial bait, the elongated body of which may be shaped and colored to resemble a bug, or beetle, minnow, frog, or other object, one end of the body having a cross-portion that is dished on one side to the right and left of the center-line of the body, and the line or leader being attached to the body intermediate its ends but close to the cross-portion, so that the dished ends of the cross-portion will give the body the desired lifelike movements when the line is pulled with sudden jerks, so as to attract the attention of nearby fish, a plural-prong-ed hook being attached to the other end portion of the body on the opposite side from the line-attaching eye.

Another object is to provide a. bait of the kind described above,.'whichhas the body weighted on the under side on that end on which the crossportion is provided, whereby to adapt the bait to deep water fishing, the bait when unweighted being suitable for surface or near to the surface fishing.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l is a side view of an artificial bait made in accordance with my invention, indicating how the same is used in the weighted form for deep water fishing;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side View of a bait like that of Fig. l but unweighted, and illustrated in operation for surface or near to the surface fishing, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional details on the correspondingly numbered lines of Fig. 2.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to Figs. 1', 2, 4, and 5, the elongated body 6 may be formed to simulate the body of a beetle or bug and is suitably colored, as indicated at I, to help to attract the attention of nearby fish. To the underside of the rear portion 8 is attached an eye 9, onto which the three-pronged fish hook I is pivotally attached, the hook barbs being protected by weed guards H, so as to make this bait suitable for deep water fishing. The line or leader I2 is attached to an eye l3 provided on the top of the body near the reduced front end It. A cross-portion I is provided on M, which is suitably integral with end of approximately the same thinness as the reduced front end l4, and is dished on the front face, as indicated at H5, on both sides of the the bait shown in longitudinal center-line of the body and rounded on the back face, as indicated at H. A weight It is applied to the under side of the front end of the body in a recess I9, so that the bait will be unbalanced sufiiciently to insure having the dished portions I5 catch the water as the bait is pulled forwardly along the bottom 20, thereby insuring the bait running at an angle of anywhere from 45 to relative to the bottom 26. This is important for deep water fishing, because in that kind of fishing the bait must tend to head downwardly. The dished portions 15 cause sufficient agitation of the water, besides causing the body 6 to sway from side to side and oscillate in a fore and aft plane with respect to the line 12 as it is pulled forward, to insure attracting the attention of nearby fish, the scheme being to give the impression of 'a beetle or bug in distress, and thus tempt the fish to bite, when, of course, they will be caught on the hooks I6. I have found this deep running bait, with its bumping along the bottom, to be very good for wall-eye pike fishing, when the fish are running deep.

In the other form, illustrated in Fig. 3, the

# body 6 has the plural-pronged hook l0 pivotally connected to the rear end 8 on the eye 9', this bait being adapted to run in the water at or near the surface 2|, with the cupped portions l6 acting to catch and throw the water in sprays on opposite sides of the line or leader l2, there being no weight l8 in the front end portion 14. With this surface bait, I rely upon the weight of the hook Hi to keep the tail end 8' down, and, because of the absence of the weight l8, this bait will rise to the surface when the line I2 is pulled. I have found that it has a very nice action when retrieved in short jerks; it sinks slowly between jerks, and gives the desirable pop as it comes to the surface when the line is jerked, thus attracting the attention of bass in shallow water and weed beds.

Both baits can be made in bait casting size and also in fiy rod size, so that for a given beetle or bug design there are four different baits available, bearing in mind the two sizes and the presence or absence of the weight I8. The same applies for a minnow design, a frog design, a spoon design, and so forth, which with the various color combinations possible make the number of possible baits involving the present features almost unlimited.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. An artificial lure comprising a body of greater length than width provided with a head end defining two cup portions in transverse alignment, the centers of the cup portions lying in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the remaining portion of the body, said body having its rear end formed :with a fiat surface at' an acute angle to-the longitudinal axis, means pro- .iecting from said surface for supporting a hook thereon, the cup portions having their upper edges in substantially the same plane, said plane being at an acute angle to the plane of said'fiat surface, a fishing line securing eye locatedl-between the cup portions and securedto thebody adjacent the edges of the cup portions, and a weight embedded in said cup portions rexpose'd at the under surface thereof.

2.. An :artificial lure comprising-a t-body of greater length than width 1 provided with a head end defining two cup portions inLtransversealign- -ment,- the. centers of the cup, portions lying; in-a plane-at rightangles to .the longitudinalaxismof :the remaining. portionl-offlthe. body,.lsaid .body having its rearend extending infiauplaneaat, an

acute angle to thelongitudinal-"axis,'means. pro- J'ecting from, an intermediate portion, of ,said

angular reartend-portionrfor supporting a hook thereon-on the, opposite side of the body fromthe hollows f of the. .cup vportions,, the cup portions having ..their-.edges in substantiallythesame plane,said plane. being. at, an .acuterangle to the longitudinal axis,l .a fishing','.line securing. eye ,locatedbetweenjthe:cup portions and secured to the body-adjacentithe edges. of-lthe cunportions, and a weight embedded in said cup, portions ,ex-

posed atthe baoksurface thereof .3.-.An .artificial lure..comp'rising a body of greater :length. than lwidth. provided with. a head end defining .two cup portionsiinutransverse alignment, the centers of the cup portions lying in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the remaining portion of the body, said body having its rear end formed with a flat surface at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis, means projecting from said surface for supporting a hook thereon, the cup portions having their upper edges in substantially the same plane, said plane being at an acute angle to the plane of said fiat surface, and a fishing line-securing eye located 'betweenthe cup-portions and secured to'the body adjacent the edges of the cup portions.

-'-4. An artificial lure comprising a body of greater length than width provided with a head end defining two cup portions in transverse alignwment,.lthe. centers of the cup portions lying in a .,plane at rightangles to the longitudinal axis of "the remaining portion of the body, said body havingits rear end extending in a plane at an REFERENCES 'CITED -.T-he following references. are of A record .inQthe .file, of this-patent:

i UNITED'JSTA'I'ES; PATENTS Number Name 'Date 1,490,161 :Dickman Apr. 15, 1924 1,636,832 Pagin, July 26, 1927 1,833,522 Goble Nov;-25,- 1931 32,207,425 "Arb'ogast July-9, 1940 ."2;360,563 "Harman Oct. 17', 1944 

